A Day at Gardner Village

Our days are counting down til we're back in school so we're doing all we can before then! Today we took a trip to Gardner Village. We went to see the witches, but .... the pictures don't show it. Mom didn't get any pictures of the witches there, just these cuties! We sure had fun though. Thanks for a fun filled day Heidi, Brielle, Brooke, Brayden, Brynn, Heather, Jeffrey, Kristen and Sophie! We had a great time!

What a bunch of cute kids if I do say so myself!

bartonvinyldecor.blogspot.com

Well, as most of you know, I have a vinyl cutting machine. I bought it for my own enjoyment, but it has served many purposes, helping out many, (of you), with your vinyl needs! I love creating and cutting vinyl, and LOVE seeing the end result.

So, I am trying something new. I started a blog a couple months ago, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I actually posted on it and have decided to get it going. (bartonvinyldecor.blogspot.com)

Because I love Fall! I am doing a drawing, and have offered a 15% off coupon. So, go check out the site and post a comment or send me an e-mail!

Good Luck!

Card Swap!

Alrighty! How much fun can we actually have ? LOTS OF FUN! There's always a "reason" to get out and go to lunch, get together with friends, and just have fun, right? YES! Today was our Card Swap / Lunch / Get together with the Gals day! So much fun! We have been doing this for a couple of years now. Some of us have been in the WHOLE time, some of us are new! We're always looking for new comers, AND we always welcome all who just want to come hang out and eat with us too! So, if this looks like FUN to you, let me know and we'll add you to our e-mail. We're looking at the middle of November for our next swap, so get your cards going! Thanks ladies for a great afternoon out, and a bunch of FUN new cards!

State Fair

The kids had been off track for a week and the fair was almost over. I told myself I'd take them this year and in a blink of an eye, it was over. However, thanks to some GREAT friends, we were able to walk in the gates and enjoy the farm fresh air smell and amuzement rides galore!
The kids were amazed at all they could see, and I don't feel we even dented the place, but we sure had fun, and had a GREAT time together as a family.

This is the Giant Slide. We had to walk a "mile" up to the top, carrying a carpet, then slid "all" the way down. Mommy and Justin rode together, and Sami and Jaren did. Justin said it "tickeled his tummy."

This was a little kids farmers market. They had fun. They got to milk cows, pick up eggs, plant seeds, pick the harvest, and then trade it for "play" money. At the end they could buy cereal or an apple. The kids thought it was great!

Rides, Rides and more rides. The kids would have been here all night long had we had enough $$ to get them on every ride! We bought a certain amount of tickets for them and told them to pick and choose. Sami chose this hanglider ride for her first one (top middle) and said it was "awesome." Jaren and Justin went on a ride (bottom two pictures) with McKayla and Hailey. I got a couple pictures of the girls, but either someone walked in front of me, or the ride got going too fast for me to get a picture of them. Funny though, Justin kept sliding down into the bottom of the cart. Look at their faces though (bottom right), they both LOVED the ride!

This is Sami Bungee Jumping. She was so excited for this. They harness them in and then hoyst them up. They start jumping, and they can bounce as high as they want. Sami got so good, she was able to do back flips up in the air! Way to go Sami.

Okay, we were all hungry, (cause kids wanted to ride rides instead of eat), dad was tired, had been at work all day, and half of us wanted to go, while the other half wanted to stay. We decided we had a few minutes to go see some of the animals. Of course I ran out of disk space (cause I hadn't downloaded the last set of pictures on there), and we didn't see all of the animals, but here's the good old fat pigs we saw (nice butt shot)!

Just for this day

This was an e-mail I received, that made me stop and think twice about all the stuff that didn't need to be done right away, and about all the important things I should be doing with my children. Hopefully we can all take a little extra time out of our busy schedules to spend a little extra time with the ones we love, giving them the love and attention they need!

Just for this morning, I am going to smile whenever I see your face

and laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning, I will let you wake up softly,

all rumpled in your flannel and I will hold you until you are ready.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear,

and smile and say you're beautiful.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry,

and pick youup and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I am going to eat a huge breakfast ,

with bacon eggs, toast and waffles, and you don't have to eat any.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink,

and let you teach me how to put that 100 piece puzzle together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off,

and sit with you in the garden blowing bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble

when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck,

and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be

when you grow up or who you might have been before your diagnosis.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies,

and I won't stand over you trying to 'fix' things.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you put all kinds of barettes in my hair,

and put lipstick on my face, and I will tell you how pretty you have made me look.

Just for this afternoon I will take you to McDonalds

and buy us both a Happy meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story

about how you were born, and how much we love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the bathtub

and not get angry when you throw water over your sister's head.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit

on the porch swing and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will bring you glasses of water,

and snuggle beside you for three hours and miss my favorite show on t.v.

Just for this evening, When I kneel down to pray,

I will simply begrateful for all that I have

and not ask for anything, except just one more day.

Sally Meyer C. 1999.
No portion of this poem may be reproduced, copied, or forwarded, without express written permission by the author.

A Day at Hogle Zoo

Today we took a trip up to the Hogle Zoo! It was so much fun. Aunt Heidi invited us to go with them and we had a great time. The kids fit right in with all the animals! Just take a look at their silly pictures and you'll see what I mean. We sure had a group of CUTE kids.

It was great to see you, Kristen and Sophie, and Heather and Jeffrey! We also ran into our great friends the Garretts!

Thanks Aunt Heidi for a fun filled day!

13th Anniversary

Boy I can't believe we just celebrated our 13th Year Anniversary. Time goes by so fast when you're having fun! We had a great time. We spent the first part of our day up in the mountains with our kids, hiking around and taking pictures (see below, we were in need of some new family pictures). After that, we took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa Lanes house, and took off for Ogden. We made a stop in Roy to visit Great Grandpa Lane, and had a great time visiting with him and listening to him tell stories of his past. Then, we went up Ogden Canyon to the Alaskan Inn. We had a great time. We stayed in the "Bears Den," and was able to sit back and relax, watch TV, sit in the Hot Tub, and really enjoy ourselves. In the morning, they brought us a fabulous breakfast, belgian waffles (I had them with Strawberries, Mark with Syrup), and then bacon, hashbrowns, toast, and milk and juices. We took pictures of the room, the land that the Alaskan Inn sits on, and the beautiful mountains, however, I accidentally erased all the pictures before downloading them to my computer. So .... unless Mark is able to recover them, this is all I've got (downloaded from the internet). :( (Thank goodnes we don't HAVE to have the pictures to remember our memories of this Anniversary).

Thanks for 13 Wonderful years Mark. Looking forward to another 13 and MORE! I love you!

Family Pictures

Well, we were way overdue for Family Pictures, so I decided that for my Anniversary, I wanted new ones. So .... we got up, went in to the mountains, had a great time hiking all over and .... yep, posing for pictures. It was so much fun! The kids are totally used to being somewhere, and having to stop and "strike a pose," so that they, were GREAT sports. Here's just a few of the FUN pictures that we got. Lilly (our dog) wasn't as cooperative, but she sure had a fun time climbing and running free up in the mountains!

In fact, we had so much fun, the kids asked if we could "do it again, soon, some time." Funny! Thanks family for cooperating! Mom is pleased to have such cute pictures to post all over the house!

Grandma and Grandpa got KITTENS!

Can you believe it? They got all of us kids out of the house, all of the animals were gone, and they go and get two kittens. I can't believe it. They said they were planning on picking out one, but ..... had to get two. The Shelter happend to be having a 2 for 1 special! They're sure cute though! Their names are Amber and Ashley. Can you guess who's who? The kids LOVED being there with them. They didn't want to come home (of course, what else is new)? We'll be spending a lot of off track time over there, I'm sure!

Out of the Mouths of my little ones!

I saw my friend posted this on her blog and I thought it was darling! Below, you will find a tag for Samantha, Jaren, and Justin. I am asking the Questions in Red, Answers: Sami's in Purple, Jaren's in Green, Justin's in Light Blue.

1. What is something Mom always says to you? Go clean your room. Come Here. Come eat lunch.

2. What makes Mom happy? When I listen to her. When I smile. Giving her flowers.

3. What makes Mom sad? When I don't listen to her. When I go some where. Hitting her.

4. How does Mom make you laugh? I don't know how she does? I don't know. By like ...... doing funny things.

5. What was Mom like as a child? Always depending on Scott. A good girl. Looks like Sami.

6. How old is Mom? 34. 34. 34.

7. How tall is Mom? I have no idea. 5 feet 4. Like ... as big as a tramp! As tall as the net. (whew!)

8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? Scrapbook/Vinyl. Spend time with us. Play with me.

9. What does Mom do when you're not around? Sleep. Clean. Play on the computer.

10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? The Flute and Piano. I don't know. For standing on a ball!

11. What is Mom really good at? Piano and Flute. Keying. Racing me.

12. What is Mom not very good at? Not Yelling at me. I don't know. Winning me!

13. What does Mom do for a job? Type Telenotes. Keying. Put the garbage cans by the garage door.

14. What is Mom's favorite food? Lasagne. Enchilada. Carrots and soup (what? Not Nacho's?)

15. What makes you proud of Mom? When she doesn't yell at me. When she helps me clean my closet. When she cleans up my room.

16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Princess Peach. Mickey Mouse. Jerry (on Tom and Jerry).

17. What do you and Mom do together? Go to Curves. We do math. Go to the store.

18. How are you and Mom alike? We both want to be in charge! (she got that right) We're family. I don't know what you're talking about.

19. How are you and Mom different? I'm still learning how to play the piano and she already knows. We don't have the same exact color of eyes. You are big and I am small.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you? She rubs lotion on me every night. She helps me. I don't want to tell you. (he's had enough!)



Now you've been tagged! Go find your kids and ask them the same questions, see what their responses are!

Praising School Work

I've often wondered how you make every child happy, by keeping every one of their papers. And I've known of this trick, but it wasn't until today that I tried it! Jaren and Sami have come home with Spelling test the last couple of weeks with 100% (or Jaren, 113%). I've hung them up and praised them galore, and then the next one comes home and I take the old one down and put the new one up, and then they CRY because I "think" about throwing away their old papers. But finally they give in and understand I can't keep all of them ..... I should have taken pictures! So I'll start today.



We are so proud of our kids and all that they do. They are such hard workers, and try their hardest every day to be the best they can be, which is all we expect! Way to go Sami, Jaren and Justin! Keep up the GREAT work.

Come on in!

Here's a quote I got from a friends blog. I love it, I thought I'd share.

It is sooooo true. Thanks Tia, I was looking for something to explain me today!

COME IN Come in.
But don't expect to find
all the dishes done;
all floors ashine.
Observe the crumpled rug, the toys galore,
the smudgy fingerprinted door.
The little ones we shelter here
don't thrive on spotless atmosphere.
They're more inclined to disarrayand carefree,
even messy play.
Their needs are great, their patience small.
All day I'm at their beck and call.
It's "Mommie come" "Mommie see!"
Wiggly worms and red-scraped knee.
Painted pictures, blocks piled high,
my floors unshined, the days go by.
Some future day they'll flee this nest,
and I, at last, will have a rest.
And which really matters more?
A happy child or a polished floor?
Author Unknown

Winter Coat Time!

COATS? We sure needed them this weekend. Can you believe how fast it turned COLD. There was even snow up in the mountains. I can't believe its already that time of year again. Thank goodness I love the FALL. (hopefully we won't have any more flooding in our basement though). The rain came down Sunday night like no other! Anyway, THANKS for the coats Grandma and Grandpa! We love them and they'll keep us WARM.

Back in the Crib!

Well, we decided to put Sami "back in the crib." Yep, that's right, back in the Baby Crib. Here's a picture of the baby crib:

Isn't it perfect! ........... What? You think she's a little big for this? ......... What about this:

Fun huh? Her baby crib was a 3 in 1 crib. It could be a crib, a toddler day bed, and then this! We used the headboard and footboard to create her bed. She loves it!

Annual 4th Grade Egg Drop

Here is Sami at her 4th Grade Annual Egg Drop. She was so excited for this event. She came home all "egg-cited" and wanted Mom and Dad's help. But ..... when it came down to it. She had her own idea and knew it was going to work! Our high tech expertise, looking on the internet was too much for her! All she needed was a balloon, tiny gift bag and something soft (cosmetic wedges), and wha-la! It worked. She was so "eggo-cited" that her egg didn't crack. It made the fall off the top of the school building. Way to go Sami! You did it!